The BFI London Film Festival 2016

The 2016 BFI London Film Festival came to a close yesterday, after screening 248 features across 15 cinemas over 12 days. A series of headline gala screenings marked the highlights of the festival, with several RADA alumni featuring.

2010 graduate Mary Mallen plays the role of Sharon in Manchester by the Sea, a heart-rending drama about one man's return to his hometown after a tragedy. Named after the Massachusetts fishing community in which it is set, the film uses flashbacks to reveal why Lee (Casey Affleck) abandoned his hometown years previously, and explores his trauma at returning there.

Also among the highlights of the film festival was Nocturnal Animals, a 'story inside a story' thriller about a woman who becomes obsessed with her ex-husband's new novel. RADA graduate Andrea Riseborough appears as Alessia, while fellow alumnus Michael Sheen plays Carlos in the film directed by Tom Ford. Riseborough has most recently been praised for her performance in Channel 4's National Treasure, whil Sheen's recent credits include Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this year.

Their Finest also received a gala screening at the festival last week. Set during World War II, the film stars RADA graduate Gemma Arterton as Catrin, a young Welsh copywriter who finds herself working as a script editor for propaganda films to raise morale during the Blitz. It also features RADA alumni Henry Goodman as Hungarian film-maker Gabriel Baker, and Hubert Burton as Wyndham Best, playing the hero of the film-within-the-film.

We are delighted to see RADA alumni playing leading roles in front of and behind the camera, in these headline films and across the festival. The London Film Festival ran from 5-16 October; for more information, visit the BFI website.